Rapid-acting vise.



H. H. ABERNATHY.

RAPID ACTING VISE.

-APPLICATION FILED OCT. l. 1906.

1,140,646. A 'Patented May 25, 1915.

l provements in Rapid-Acting arras rn'rnnfr ocurren HUGH I-I. ABERNATI-IY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

income.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH H. ABERNATHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chica-go, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Ini- Vises; and declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw- Y ings, which form a part of this specification.

' ment may be made relates particularly to the feedor compression mechanism of that type of vises generally known as rapid acting vises and the construction of an adjustable, removable, swiveled vise-jaw facing for holding work of angular shape and capable of vertical adjustment for use as a dog when raised higher than the top surface of the vise jaw.

The old form of vise usually consists of two opposed jaws which are longitudinally adjustable through the agency of a screw which is rotatably attached to one of the jaws and passes through a solid nut which is anchored to the other jaw. In this construction it is often necessary to rotate the screw a great number of times to secure the proper openingbetween the jaws to accommodatethe work to be held which is an inconvenience and causes a considerable. loss of time. Several mechanisms have been devised for freeing the nut from the threads of the screw 'so that a longitudinal adjustby simply pulling or pushing` the movable jaw until it is in close' adjustment with the article to be held after which the nut is again brought into engagement with the screw by a more or less convenient movement and then the desired pressure applied through the rotation of the screw.

vThe mechanisms above referred to are more or less complicated and usually rely uponaspring for some part of their action which is not always reliable; some do not allow of a continuous feed through the rotation ofthe screw, in some the mechanism locks at certain intervals, preventing a free v My invention vrotation of the screw, and some do not satisin contact with the factorily hold the nut of the engag- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

i Application filed October 1, 1906. Serial No. 336,959.

consisting of a minimum of parts (only the screw, the nut, and their proper supporting frame being necessary) yet which will hold the nut securely in contact with the screw, allow of a continuous turning of the screw and the automatic engagement and release of the nut through the respective forward or reverse rotation of the screw alone.

My invention will be more fully described hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which show a vise particularlyl adapted to wood-workers Vthough the principles ofthe feed or compression mechanism and the jaw attachment is designed to be used upon vises of various weights and designs as regards the shape and'construction of the jaws and their manner of alinement, according to the uses to which the vise may be put for wood or metal work.

. Figure 1 is a side view of a complete vise. Fig. 2 is a top view. Fig. 3 is a sectional view vupon line -a-a showing the jaw facing. Fig. 4 is a back view of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view ofthe feed mechanism alone, through line -b-bof Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of feed mechanisml alone, through line -.-ccof Fig. 5.

Similar reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the several views.

In a general vise; construction A represents the back fixed jaw, which holds, or to which is attached the nut or its supports or abutments. I

-B is the front adjustable jaw to which is rotatably attached the screw C.

D and D are slides supporting the front jawl and holding it in alinement with the back jaw. v l

E and vF are respectively the handle and its connection to the screw C.

G is a plate connecting the back ends of slides D and D and acts in this construction yas the 'support for the back end ofthe screw C, though in place of this support the screw might have a bearing in the back jaw A or in its extension or attachment J as shown in Fig. 6.

The above named parts or their equivalents are common in all vise constructions and no claims are made upon them, but they Y its outer surface.

which is radially opposed screw C, and, being practically balanced, can be rolled in either direction by the rotation of the screw C, the collar keeping. its normal position on the screw and forming a frictional contact therewith through the force of gravity, said contact being regulated by the weight of the collar, but the conined relative to longitudinal or vertical movement within the housing J which is the extension of, or an attachment to the back jaw A. The hole in the collar H is larger in diameter than the section of the screw C, as may be seen in Fig. 5, and longitudinally upon the inner surface of collar H there is formed a segment of a nut, I, which registers in diameter, pitch, and shape of tooth with the threads of the screw C. In the drawings, I is shown as a separate piece mortised into the collar H, though it is possible and within the spirit of this invention, that the threads of segment I may be an integral part of the collar H and for the purpose of further description, the segment I nut H.

As anV extension from, or as an adjustable attachment to extension or housing J, is a lug K with a surface L which is practically concentric though a little larger in diameter than the outer cylindrical surface of the rollerv nut H, as it rests upon the screw C. The surface L is extended to the point M, to the further side of the segment I when the roller nut has been revolved in the direction as shown by the arrow in Fig. segment are in proper contact with the threads of the screw C as shown'by dotted lines at I, the/rotation of the roller nut being stopped at this point by a lug N upon This lug is shown in contact with point M by dotted lines at N when the roller nut is in operative contact with the screw. y

To free the threads ofthe nut from the threads of the screw, the screw is `turned in the opposite direction and' the roller nut is thereby rolled back till the segment4 of the nut rests inany desired normal position vas at I, and ther-roller nut being in this position, another lugO is cylindrical surface of collar H with a point P which is atthe op of the lug K, thus limiting Vthe reversemovement of collar H, and while in this position, it is obvious that the screw C, which controls the movement of the front adjustable jaw,

will be styled the roller to engage can be freely pulled or pushed through col-' lar H, since the screw is now only in contact with the smooth inner surface of the roller nut.

The surface L islocated from the outer cylindrical surface of the roller nut to allow for a free rotation of this element, but not so far but that the threads collar H is the collar H together with 5, until the threads of theL formed upon the outer posite end just far enoughf roller nut H till lof the nut and the screw will be held in a practical working engagement, even though the nut should have a tendency to rise under pressure. The location and shape of these various lugs and points may be altered to suit any particular construction, and the distance of rotation and the difference in diameters between the hole in H and the screw C are exaggerated in the drawings for pose of clearness of illustration. v

The simplest form of this invention is shown in Fig. 4 where the inner or workingV surface of the segment I is constructed practically concentric with the inner surface of collar` H as shown more in detail by the dotted lines -ein Fig. 5 and in which case the roller nut would revolve till vthe segment is directly over the vaXis of the the pur,-V

rangement being providedagainst a partial rising of thev nnut due to the clearance Vbetween the surface L and theoutside surface upon by placing a inside or outside cylindrical surface of the which shall compensate for any lost motion due to clearance, wear, or irregularity of construction, by simply allowing the roller nut to rotate a little farther, this adjustment being accomplished throughthe shortening of the lug N as indicated by dotted line `a-. Such a cam on the outside surface of collar His shown at 03-, Fig. 5 and to agree with such a cam the bottom surface of the lug K should have a like curve as shown by the dotted line V*g/*- VBut what is considered to be the best design is theplacing of the cam onthe inside surface of collar H as shown at I in Fig. 5. In this designthe front ends of the grooves between the threadsV of the nut segment are made tangent to the inside cylindrical surfacev of collar H,

cam surface on either the' tionately higher than the adjacent surface Y of collar H as shown at Thisis in effect a-cam for taking up the lost motion above referred to, also the screw `enters' and is released from the nut on the line of a peri fecty curve, and as the nut Yproperly seats upon the screw in a shorter travel, the desired result is therefore accomplished byv a of which are Y shorter turn of the desirable features.

In action this scribed as follows: the position shown is pushed into contact with the article to be held, the handle tion as'indicated by the arrow the screw and the screw in turn revolves the handle, all

The roller nut being in in Fig.'5, the'front jawk segment I is in proper' mechanism may be d e- E is turnedin thendirec- A which rotatesv .ist

' Vis in contact with the B. By this construction,

working engagement with the screw at I', after which a further rotation of the screw draws the movable jaw B, to which it is attached, toward the fixed jaw A until the desired pressure is secured. To release the jaw B, the handle is turned in the opposite direction till the roller nut is in its originaly normalposition as shown in Fig. 5; when the threads of the screw and the nut are out of engagement, the movable jaw B may be freely pulled or pushed to any desired justment. In the forward movement, shou the points -fwof the segment l come in contactA with the tops of the screw threads, the screw will simply slip in the roller nut until the threads of the screw and nut do properly register. When a cam surface is used on the roller nut the lug N is not a necessity, though its use will prevent a wedging of the nut and consequent unnecessary friction. Point R is a lug upon extension or housing J for holding the roller nut in its proper longitudinal position and in some constructionsl it might be found preferable to make this point the end. of an adjustable scre s s s s are screw holes for attaching extensionor housing J to a vise jaw when itis not formed as an integral part of said jaw.

A is -a vise jaw facing rotatably and removably mounted upon a pin B. The pin B is rigidly attached to a frame C and frame C is removably held to the jaw B by the lugs -f and f-itted snugly into corresponding `notches on the inside of the slides D -and B', as best shown in Fig. 3, and should a permanent attachment be desired, the frame C may be further held in position by screws -`6Z rlhrough a tapped hole in frame C passes an adjusting. screw E the end of which engages with the vunder surface of jaw A and holds it in adjustment at any desired height above the top surface of B when it is desired to use the facing as dog. Figs. 1, 3 and 4 a vise show this facing slightly raised.

Directly behind the pin B the body of jaw A is just thick enough to fill the space between the said pin and .the regular jaw face and is curved at a radius equal to the distance between the center of the said pin and the jaw face, so that at whatever angle the facing may stand, pressure applied upon the front ofthe facing will be transmitted to the face of the regular jaw without strain upon said pin. A lug F is formed at one end of the facing extending toward the regular jaw and of such size that when its end face of the regular jaw the outside face of the facing will be parallel to the face of the rear jaw A. On the back side of the facing at the opposite end is attached a spring G which normally holds the lug F in contact with the face of when it is esired to use the vise with parallel jaws, the work is clamped at the lug end of the facing while to hold an article with angular sides, the spring end of the facing is used which will yield to any desired angle within the range of its construction. Should it be desired to hold the angular object at the other end of the vise, then the facing A is pulled o of the pin B, reversed end for end, and replaced upon the pin, which accomplishes the required adjustment.

The facing A is shown in angular adjustment by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The hole at the center of jaw A extends all the way through the facing to allow for the insertion of the pin from the opposite side when the facing is reversed as above described. The front surface of the frame C is of the outline shown in Fig. 2, that it will not extend beyond the front surface of jaw A when A is deflected to its greatest angle of adjustment in either direction.

While details of vise construction have been more or less fully described, yet changes in form, proportion and location of parts and the substitution of equivalent elements relative to various general vise designs are contemplated without departing from the spirit kof my invention, which is primarily the construction of a feed or com pression mechanism consisting of a screw and a new form of nut, the threads of which are capable of rolling into and out of engagement with the threads of the screw simply by a short forward or reverse rotation of the screw without the aid or inter vention of any auxiliary parts, through the use of a roller nut, which makes possible an optional screw or manual adjustmentbetween the vise jaws, it being obvious that after the segment of the nut is in engagement with the screw a further forward turning of the handle will feed the adjustable jaw according to the pitch of the screw threads; and the further improvement consists in the design of a swivel vise facing which is vertically adjustable and which can be used as a parallel jaw at one end and as a swivel jaw at the other end without any intermediate change of parts or adjustments.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to se- -cure yby Letters Patent is l. In a vise the combination with suitable jaws and a continuous screw rotatably mounted in said jaws, of a sleeve supported by and rotatable in either direction through the frictional contact between said screw and sleeve and a nut segment on the inner surface of said sleeve capable of engagement and disengagement with said screw by the rotation of said sleeve.

2. In a vise the combination of a screw, a cylindrical ring rotatively mounted thereon with a central hole of larger diameter than the screw, of a nut segment mounted longitudinally upon the inner surface of the ring and an abutment placed above the screw and the ring in such a way as to prevent the disengagement of the threads of the nut from the threads of the screwV through an approximate vertical movement of the said ring.

3. In a vise the combination of a screw, a collar rotatably mounted upon said screw and rotatable in either direction by the respective rotation of the said screw through the frictional contact between the collar and the screw due to the weight of the collar hanging upon said screw, a nut segment upon the inner' surface of the said collar capable of engagement with said screw through the rotation of said collar, a housing formed about said screw and collar with means for preventing the rising of said collar from saidv screw and for preventing a longitudinal 'movement of said collar though the screw may be freely moved longitudinally whenever the nut segment is not in engagement with the screw, lugs upon the said collar and corresponding lugs upon the said housing for limiting the rotation of said collar substantially as Vand for the purpose named.

4.. ln a vise the combination of a screw, a sectional nut, an abutment adjacent to said screw and a wedge inserted throughthe rotation of said screw between said nut section and said abutment to prevent the nut section from disengaging Vwith said screw.

5. In combination with suitable vise Vjaws and their supports, a compression screw, a roller nut, a suitable housing adapted for holding said nut in proper longitudinal position, an abutment for preventing the rising of the said nut out of engagement with the screw and lugs for limiting the rotation of the roller nut in both directions.

6. In a vise construction, the combination in a rapid acting compression mechanism, a rotatable screw, va. hollow cylindrical Acollar rotatably mounted and hanging upon said screw and capable of being revolved in either direction by said screw through the frictional contact between the two elements named, a nut segment upon the innersurvanism of a clamping and a roller nut, said face of said collar capable of being brought into and out of engagement with said screw through the rotation of said screw and col-V lar, a frame for lar in their proper relative positions, an abutment on said frame for preventing the rising of said nut out -of engagement with said screw under pressure, a cam surface behind the said nut adjustment in allowances for clearance, lost motion, or wear of parts and of lugs upon the outer surface of the said `collar and c0r` responding lugs on the said frame for limiting the rolling motion of the said collarat any desired point in either direction substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In the rapid acting compression mechdevice, the combination of a screw roller nut consisting of .a practically balanced ring, anut segment with threads projecting from the inner surface of said ring, the bottom of the threads at the side of the nut segment to' first engage with the screw being made tangent to the inner surface of the ring, the thickness Y ring being greater at the back side of said nut segment than at the front side and'of projections from said ring for limiting the rotation of said ring. l

8. In a vise, the combination of a removable, reversible,A adjustable, swiveled :vise jaw facing, ascrew for regulating the vertical adjustment of the facing, allug atone end of said facing of proper length to keep the face of the facing y jaw normally parallel and for-preventing any swivel movement due toa pressure appiied at that end' of j spring for holding ysaid lug normally against the face of the jaw to whichthe-facing is movablyk attached substantially as and for the purpose specified. .A l Y Signed'at Chicago,'county of Cook, State holding said screw and colofthe rim of the segment for the purpose of so Y andV the'face of the Athe facing and of a Y ERNST FRANK, .Y E. XV. ABERNATHY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissionerfof` Patents,

Washington, ZD. C. j v Y l 

